HARD TIMES

Title: Hard Times

Author: Charles Dickens

Publisher: Peter Haddock Publishing

Place and Year of publication: United Kingdom, 1854

Where I found the book: At home

Number of Pages: 196 pages

In this book, the unforgettable Charles Dickens paints a timeless picture of a classical English town with the themes of facts, honesty and betrayal. He creates two parallel storylines in nineteenth century England, using the title " Hard Times" to illustrate the lives of rich and poor through the harshness and injustices of life. Dickens then begins the story with introducing the main character Thomas Gradgrind with selfish authority as he sees himself through a mirror of pride. Teaching children not to dream but to delete their imagination in return for facts.

Later on, his daughter Louisa marries a rich man to protect her brother Tom. Tom becomes an alcoholic who wastes his every penny on being drunk behind his father's back. But, when a politician named James Harthouse falls in love with Louisa and steals her heart, Tom realizes that everything that he once depended on had turned to dust. He feels so betrayed by his sister to the point that he decides to solve his problems by stealing the money that he needs from the bank and framing an innocent poor man named Stephen Blackpool.

Nevertheless, his plan fails miserably when Stephen Blackpool dies in an accident claiming to be innocent. Tom then pays for his crime by spending the rest of his life in exile while leaving his divorced sister and miserable father to live in the shame of his actions. In exile, he regrets what he did but never gets to get in touch with his family and apologize to his father before his death.

Yet, to Mr. Thomas Gradgrind this is where it all ended. He realized that the philosophy he used to bring up his children was not right. He paid a very high price for his mistake and will continue to regret the way that he raised his children and destroyed their futures until he reaches his last breath. He realizes that even facts bow down to honesty and betrayal. That not even facts can be the only thing in the world. There are feelings and truths that are worth far more than all the world's facts combined. For a child to have his or her imagination and innocence is far more important than any science or knowledge that this world could offer them.

CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE:

This book was written in a Christian perspective, since most of the characters displayed christ-like behaviour by either regretting things they have done or always trying to follow God. Throughout the book, the author used a lot of moral virtues from the Bible to convey his ideas. In addition to that, the story takes place in a time where Christianity was a wide spread religion and a place where most people tried to live a life devoted to God.

MY THOUGHTS:

In my opinion, this is a book that displays great moral virtues. The reason that I chose to read this story was because I was interested in learning more about the era that the book was written in. I also really enjoyed reading it because it opened my eyes to that time of history and made me realize how similar and different it is from our time. I would recommend this book to any reader who is a lover of history and great stories.